1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to ultrasonic surgical instruments. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to ultrasonic surgical instruments including jaw members configured to compress tissue of interest for removing moisture therefrom prior to the tissue of interest being ultrasonically treated.
2. Description of Related Art
Ultrasonic energy-powered instruments configured to cut and/or fragment tissue are known in the art. Ultrasonic instruments, typically, include a transducer that is coupled to a probe/waveguide having an active member (e.g., cutting blade, shear, hook, ball, etc.) at a distal end thereof. In use, ultrasonic energy is utilized to vibrate (e.g., at frequency usually in the range of 20 KHz to 60 KHz) the active member to treat tissue of interest.
Ultrasonic instruments may include any of a variety of probe configurations to achieve a specific surgical result. For example, the probe configuration may include an active member in the form of a cutting blade that is combined with a movable jaw configured to grasp and/or manipulate tissue. Such ultrasonic instruments are suitable for use with a variety of medical procedures including open surgical procedures, luminal procedures, and endoscopic procedures.
During use of ultrasonic instruments, however, much of the energy that would otherwise be utilized to dissect or seal tissue with ultrasonic instruments is absorbed by the water present in tissue. When the water absorbs enough energy it either evaporates or is displaced to surrounding tissues, which, in turn, diminishes the intended surgical effect and tends to increase operative times. As can be appreciated, increased operative times may increase dissipation of heat beyond tissue of interest to adjacent tissue, e.g., thermal spread, which, in turn, may result in heat damage to adjacent tissue.